


Like Old Times

by Gingerwerk



Series: Homecoming [1]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Bromance, Brotp, Gen, Team Curraheev2, hbo warathon v2, like everyone else go home, philly boys, these two fuckers are the best bff's ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-22 11:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/912913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gingerwerk/pseuds/Gingerwerk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Today was the day Babe was finally going to visit Bill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Old Times

**Author's Note:**

> So these two have such a strong friendship and I love them so much for it and when I was reading their joint biography, they mentioned meeting up again after the war, so I knew I had to expand on it. Some of this was taken from what was written in 'Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends' and other bits were my own imagination. I initially posted this for the HBO warathon on tumblr.
> 
>  
> 
> ***

_Today’s the day_ , Babe thought to himself as he stared at his folded hands that sat on top of the kitchen table. _It’s been way too long, really._

 

            Babe had been home from Europe for almost a year now although he wasn’t quite sure if that was right. Sometimes it seemed like just yesterday he was waking up exhausted physically and mentally in foxholes. Hell, even some mornings he woke up expecting the last year to have been one long dream.

 

            Not that the last year have been exactly a cake walk to him. If there was anything harder than getting used to the military and living in a warzone it was readjusting to civilian life. Babe was still getting back into the swing of things in town and still woke up at least once a night from the nightmares that he was sure would never fade. Not that he was sure that he wanted to let the horrible memories fade, didn’t want to forget his friends, especially all the ones who had made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

            Babe let out a deep breath and scrubbed face feverishly with his hands, feeling suddenly overwhelmed with memories of the dead and the badly wounded.

 

_No,_ Babe thought to himself as he pressed his fingers against his eyes that had seen way too much already. _Not now. Not today._

 

            Babe was sure if he thought any longer on the subject, he wouldn’t be able to go through with his plans for today. And he sure as hell couldn’t back down today. Not again. He already backed down from his plan a few times before and really, a year was away too long to wait for this.

 

            Today was the day he was _finally_ going to visit Bill.

 

            Really, a visit to Bill was way overdue, especially considering the fact that Bill lived only a couple blocks away from him. Babe was a little surprised that he hadn’t already run into Bill whenever he went about the neighborhood. He was more than a little relieved that he never did run into Bill on accident though. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to deal with meeting Bill when he wasn’t expecting it. Hell, he couldn’t even handle seeing Bill when he _was_ expecting it.

 

_Quit acting like such a pansy and get out there,_ Babe told himself before he stood up from his seat at the table. He could feel his hands shaking slightly from nerves. _You’re freaking Babe Heffron. You can do this._

 

 “I can do this,” Babe muttered to himself as he grabbed his jacket from the coat rack that sat in the corner of the room. He tugged on the jacket and quickly made his way out of the house before he could change his mind again.

 

            As he walked down the bustling south Philly Street, an icy gust of air blew at him, causing his jacket to momentarily flap open. A slight shiver ran down his back, but ever since Bastogne, a little autumn chill wasn’t shit. Ignoring the slight chill in the air, his thoughts drifted back to another time, back in the frozen forest from hell, and back to a day that he didn’t like to think about all that often.

 

* * *

 

 

            “Who got hit?” Babe asked as Eugene slid into his foxhole.

 

            Easy had just been forced through not just one but two heavy artillery shellings, both times had cries for medics when the shelling momentarily stopped. Babe had watched as Eugene sprung out of his hole some time ago to help with the wounded while he had stayed in his hole until further orders. While he waited in his hole, he had shouted over to the nearby foxholes and asked who was alright, if they knew who got hit, if they knew how bad people were hit. But now that Gene was back, looking much wearier than he had earlier and covered in even more blood, he could get his answers.

 

“Who got hit, Gene?” Babe asked again, a little more urgently than before.

 

            His stomach twisted uncomfortably as Gene slowly brought his gaze upwards and locked his dark blue eyes with Babe’s brown eyes. Gene was quiet for too long, much too long to be good. Babe reached out and gripped onto Gene’s arm, giving the thin but muscular arm a squeeze.

 

“Who is it, Eugene,” Babe asked quietly and slowly. “Jus’… just tell me.”

 

            Gene kept his eyes locked with Babe for another moment before he let out a sigh and dropped his gaze towards his lap.

 

“Toye got hit,” Gene answered quietly. He paused for a moment to let the news sink in before he continued. “He lost a leg.”

 

“A leg...?” Babe asked, feeling a little sick. “Who… who else got hit?”

 

            Toye couldn’t be the only who got hit, because there had to be a reason why Gene was acting so elusive. However, the fact that he was using the information on Toye to soften the blow only made Babe feel worse. His mind began to run through the list of remaining men in his head; who else could have gotten hit?

 

“Babe…” Gene said gently in a tone one might use when comforting a small child.

 

“Gene.” Babe felt like he would start screaming if the Doc didn’t spill soon. “Just tell me.”

 

“Guarnere,” Gene finally answered. “Guarnere got hit.”

 

            Babe felt like his stomach dropped into his frozen boots while his heart seemed to stop. He stared at Gene with wide eyes while his brain tried to process what Eugene had said.

 

_Bill…?_

 

“What?” Babe asked. “Wha…what happened to him? Is he alright? Is he…?”

 

“He went out to help Toye after the first shellin’. He got hit tryin’ to get Toye into the hole when the second round started,” he answered.

 

“Is he okay?” he pressed, feeling like he was close to puking.

 

“He… his leg got all tore up and… and I don’t know, Babe,” Gene answered quietly. “He probably gonna lose the leg but… but I dunno if he’s gonna make it. That kinda wound can be tough to beat.”

 

            Babe let his gaze drop while he tried to process the jarring information that just didn’t seem to make sense. Bill got hit? But that was impossible. Wild Bill, how could he be out of the game?

 

“And that’s not it either, Babe,” Gene said after a pause. “You see, Compton was there when Toye and Guarnere got hit and he didn’t get hit or nuthin’ but we sent him to the aide station.”

 

“Why?” Babe asked weakly.

 

“The Lieutenant, he just broke after seein’ Toye and Guarnere all tore up,” the Doc answered with a shrug. “Think he’s getting sent home as well.”

 

“Oh.”

 

            Compton was gone too? The news was like throwing icy water on an already frozen man; there was already too much damage done to really make a difference at this point.

 

“I’m really sorry, Babe.”

 

* * *

 

 

            Babe was forced to stop on the corner of Tasker and 10th street because of some heavy traffic. The midday traffic and the shouts of the people on the street broke him partially out of his funk, but not enough to smile fully at the elderly ladies from church who waved at him as they passed. While he waited for the say so to cross the street, Babe watched the passing cars with mild interest.

 

            Ever since he had returned home, he had not had a reason or a real wish to ride in a car. Occasionally he took the bus but most days he got to wherever he needed to be with his two feet. While he served with the paratroopers, he drove and rode in cars and trucks more than he had ever before in his lifetime. It was something odd that he slightly missed from his days in the service.

 

            A pick-up truck flew by in front of him, the back filled with men who sat precariously on the edge as they yelled loudly to one another. In the split second Babe watched the men, taking in their apparent camaraderie, another brief memory crossed in front of his eyes.

 

            He was riding along the open back of a similar truck, this one also filled with young men. He remembered how after all the shit Easy had gone through in Foy and Bastogne and the whole damn Ardennes forest, the beaten and weary soldiers were getting something of a reprieve in Haguenau. As they pulled into the equally beaten down town, Private Webster had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, grinning, wide-eyed, and full of stupid questions that no one seemed to want to answer.

 

_“Is Guarnere still you platoon Sergeant?”_ Webster had asked Private Jackson when he had finally climbed up into the back of the truck.

 

            The mere mention of Bill had struck something painful inside of Babe. No one talked about men who were gone once they left for good; it made things easier that way. It had been over a month since anyone mentioned Wild Bill and it was like reopening a fresh, barely healing wound for Babe.

 

_“Nah, he got hit_ ,” Jackson had answered quietly, clearly not wanting to talk about this kind of shit.

 

“ _Really?”_ Webster had asked in a tone of mild curiosity that just struck Babe the wrong fucking way.

_“Yeah,”_ Babe had snapped as he stood up in the now still truck while he forced himself to keep his emotions in some sort of semblance of calm. _“Blew his whole fucking leg off.”_

            He remembered how he had jumped from the truck and away from Webster before he could hear anymore stupid questions that might force his emotions to unravel any more than they already had.

 

            Someone behind him coughed and after a quick shake of the head, Babe realized the light was green and he had been standing there for probably some time. Trying his best to seem calm and normal, Babe crossed the street as fast as he could and mentally scolded himself for tuning out like that in public.

 

            Ever since he had returned home he had found himself tuning out from time to time after getting lost in his thoughts. It was okay when it happened at home when it was just his Ma or his brothers or sister who slapped him up the side of his head and broke him out of his deep and usually dark thoughts but when it happened in public, well, it tended to leave Babe feeling more than a little embarrassed.

 

_Get your shit together_ , _Heffron_ , Babe told himself as he picked up the pace and moved farther down the street.

 

            As he rounded the corner and stepped onto 17th street, Babe felt his pulse quicken and his stomach curl with nerves. Why the fuck was he so damn nervous? This was fucking Bill. Bill who talked to him about Philly when there was a pause in between shellings to cheer him up. Bill, who brought him in, introduced him to the boys when he was a newbie, and treated him like he had known him for years instead of just a couple of hours. What could be so fucking different? What could go wrong?

 

_Bill who’s fucking leg got blown off_ … Babe thought as his steps slowed until he stopped in his tracks. _Bill who could be a completely fucking different person now…_

 

            Babe thought about all the wounded soldiers he had seen throughout his time in the military, both during the war and on his way home. He thought of their dead eyes, their faded smiles, their broken spirits… it crushed Babe’s heart to think that any of that could have happened to Bill.

 

            Babe’s broken out of his thoughts once again by the sound of some rowdy men at the end of the street. He looked up at the sight of ten or so men crowded around in a circle in the middle of the deserted street. A voice from somewhere in the middle perked Babe’s ears up.

 

“…Dammit, Joe, you gotta be cheatin’ or something,” a painfully familiar voice said loudly. “You’ve won the last three games in a row.”

 

“Maybe you just stink at the game, Bill.”

 

            Babe took a couple hesitant steps forwards and stared openly as a couple guys cleared away from the circle. A man with dark hair and olive skin with a strong jaw and an even stronger under bite could be seen from where Babe was. He looked a little different, maybe it was the civilian clothes, maybe it was something else, but it was definitely Bill, standing strong and proud on two legs.

 

            Forgetting everything he had ever worried or thought about or stressed about, Babe picked up his feet and took off running towards the group of men, feeling foolish as a goofy grin came to his face. Without thinking, Babe launched himself onto Bill, wrapping his arms around the shorter man.

 

“You son of a bitch!” Babe cried in excitement while he felt Bill teeter underneath him while he squawked and yelled in confusion and annoyance.

 

“What the hell-?!” Bill yelled while he wobbled frantically underneath Babe. He turned his head and took in the red hair, the goofy smile, the familiar voice. Bill stopped struggling as a large smile came to his own face. “Babe?!”

 

“How ya’ doing, Bill?” Babe asked through a grin that was close to splitting his face in two.

 

“Ha!” Bill cried out as he wrapped his arms around Babe and squeezed him with all of his strength. “Son of a bitch I thought you were a fucking cop!”

 

“What have you been up to?” Babe asked as Bill released him but still kept his arm slung around his shoulders. “Thinking a cop was jumping you from behind, eh?”

 

“Ah nothing too crazy,” Bill said before he turned to the guys who had been staring at them for the past minute. “Guys, this is Babe. A buddy of mine. Lives a couple blocks over.”

 

            After some quick introductions to some of the guys, some of whose names sounded familiar to Babe while others did not, Bill tightened his grip on Babe and turned him around as they began walking down the street.

 

“You up for grabbing a beer?” Bill asked.

 

“Only if you’re paying,” Babe countered with a grin, not caring that it was the middle of the day.

 

“Ah, you little shit,” Bill said as he lightly slapped the side of Babe’s head. “I’ll buy the first round if you buy the next.”

 

“Seems fair.”

 

            Together, the two friends made their way down the road and towards a small but warm bar that looked familiar to Babe. The entire time the two men walked, Babe watched Bill’s legs, looking for some indication that he wasn’t okay, that he wasn’t the same, that he needed help… but besides the slightest of limps in his step, Bill seemed as normal as anyone else. Bill led him inside and was greeted warmly as they took their seats at the bar.

 

“So what’ya been up to?” Bill asked as the bartender sat two beers in front of them.

 

“Nothin’ much, Bill,” Babe said before he took a long pull out of his beer. “Got a job at the whiskey distillery down on Delaware. They keep me pretty busy down there,” Babe added, not that he was trying to give Bill excuses for why he hadn’t looked him up until now. “I’m a foreman down there.”

 

“Oh well ain’t you special,” Bill said as he gave Babe a small shove.

 

“What have you been up to, Bill?” he asked after a pause while he stared at the contents of his beer mug.

 

“Went back to school if you can believe it,” Bill said with a laugh. “Trying to get an engineering degree.”

 

“Pff, whatever you wanna do, Bill, go for it,” he said with a shake of his head; Bill a college student? That was something he hadn’t expected but it made him feel happy that Bill was trying to make a better living for himself. “You working anywhere right now or are you strictly a little school boy?”

 

“Oh fuck off, Babe,” he said playfully with a wide grin; Babe watched uneasily as the smile on his friend’s face fell slightly. “And yeah, I’m working some. Mostly odd jobs, work at the V.A. sometimes… it’s hard to find work sometimes, ya know?”

 

            Babe turned to look at Bill, not sure how he should react to it. He had seen plenty of boys from his neighborhood he used to know, now finding it hard to get a steady job because the war had left them as less than whole. Bill didn’t look particularly upset by the statement, but then again, Bill was definitely a guy who rolled with the punches, no matter how many he got. He was one tough son of a bitch after all.

 

“Oh and you never guess what else happened.”

 

“Hmm?” Babe mumbled as he took another drink.

 

“Me and Frannie got hitched. Can you believe that?”

 

“How much did you have to pay her to go through with it?” Babe quipped, which earned him a rough shove that almost pushed him off of his stool. “I’m kiddin’, I’m just kiddin’, Bill. When’d it happen?”

 

“Oh, couple months ago,” he said with a smile on his face. “We just up and eloped to some little place. Technically I was still in the hospital at the time but when have I ever stayed in a hospital when I was supposed to?”

 

            Babe grinned as he remembered how Bill had gone AWOL from the hospital in time to leave for Bastogne with the rest of the company. He thought for a moment how maybe if Bill had stayed in the hospital then maybe he would be fine.

_Don’t think about all the what if’s,_ he told himself with a shake of his head _. You don’t know what could have possibly happened to don’t even try._

 

“So how’s married life treating you, Bill? Frannie sick of you yet?”

 

“No not yet. She’s quite the firecracker,” Bill said with a laugh before he got this far-off look in his eyes and a softest smile Babe had ever seen on his face. “Well, I’ll tell ya, she’s something, Babe.”

 

“I’d love to meet her,” he said honestly.

 

“Well why don’t we drop by the house?” Bill suggested.

 

“She’s not gonna mind me dropping by in the middle of the day?” he asked as he downed the rest of his beer.

 

“Why the fuck would she mind? She wants to meet you too. Told her all about you.”

 

“All terrible things I’m sure.”

 

“That’s all you have to you, Babe,” he said with a chuckle as they slapped some money down on the counter and left the bar.

 

            The two walked down the street for another block before Bill walked up the steps of one of the house, opened the door, and walked inside.

 

“Frannie! I’m home!” he yelled as he pulled off his coat and threw it onto the coat rack; Babe followed suit before following him across the warm living room.

 

“You’re home early,” a woman’s voice said from somewhere within the house. “I figured you’d be out for another hour or two. What’d you win me?”

 

“Nothin’ much. Joe’s a cheating son of a bitch,” Bill growled before the two of them opened the kitchen door and walked into the brightly lit room, where Babe could see a pretty young women standing in front of the sink. “But this sewer rat grabbed onto my leg and I couldn’t shake him off.”

 

“What are you-?” Frannie asked in confusion as he turned to look at Bill but stopped when she saw Babe standing behind him. A warm smile came to her face as she dried her hands on his apron. “You must be Babe.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” he said politely. “Pleasure to meet you.”

 

“Oh well I’m glad you finally stopped by,” she said as she nudged Bill out of the way and hugged Babe tightly. “Maybe Bill will finally shut up about you now. He’s been wondering when you’d be stopping by.”

 

“I have not,” Bill hissed. “You’re exaggerating.”

 

            Babe smiled while the two bickered back and forth lightly but all he could think about was the fact that Bill expected him to visit earlier than this.

 

“So, Babe, are you planning on joining us for dinner?” Frannie asked him a moment later, breaking him out of his thoughts.

 

“Oh um, I wouldn’t want to impose, Frannie.”

 

“You’re not imposing if I ask you to join us and that’s what I’m doing,” Frannie said as she gave him a light slap to the arm. “What do you say?”

 

            Babe glanced from Bill to Frannie before he darted his vision to the floor. He didn’t know why, but all of a sudden he was feeling too confined, too… he didn’t know. All Babe knew was that he couldn’t stay for dinner, not tonight. His head was spinning from all the memories this meeting had brought up, good and bad ones, and all he needed was a break so that he could fucking breath and think.

 

“I don’t think I can tonight,” Babe said with politely. “Another night if we can.”

 

“No problem,” Frannie said with a shrug. “We’d love to have you over anytime.”

 

“I’ll show you out, Babe,” Bill said as he clapped his hand on his shoulder.

 

            They walked quietly through the house, grabbed their coats, and stopped on Bill’s porch. Babe opened his mouth to speak, maybe apologize about how he should have come earlier because what was he so worried about, when Bill cut him off.

 

“Listen, Babe, I just wanted to let you know that what Frannie said, that whole me wondering when you were gonna show up, it don’t mean anything,” Bill said quickly, looking almost uneasy. “I just- look, I know that you had your own shit to sort out and I had mine and I wasn’t gonna be the one to see ya if you weren’t ready. I mean… I get it…”

 

            Babe let the words sink in while Bill continued to blather away. With Bill’s words, all the worry and guilt he felt over not visiting until now went completely out of the window. He knew Bill wouldn’t lie to him about this; Bill never lied to him about anything. He knew right then and there that everything between them was going to be just fine.

 

“Bill,” Babe said with a smile when his friend refused to stop babbling on. “Shut you’re trap already. I got it.”

 

            Babe watched as Bill let his mouth hang open for a moment before he quickly shut it and then grinned back at him. He let out a harsh, loud laugh before he slapped him hard on the back.

 

“You think you can tell me what to do?” he asked before letting out another laugh. “Fat chance, Babe.”

 

“Can’t blame a man for trying.”

 

            The two friends grinned at each other for another moment or two before Bill slapped him on his back again and began walking down the porch steps as easily as anyone with two flesh legs would.

 

“Come on. I’ll give you a lift home.”

 

            It only took a minute for Bill to drive Babe back to his house in his rusted pick-up truck. Bill stopped his truck in front of Babe’s house and as he opened the door to leave, Bill stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Good to see ya again, Babe.”

 

“Same here, Bill,” Babe said before he hopped out of the truck. “Thanks for the lift.”

 

“No problem.”

 

            Babe slammed the door and turned around to walk back to his house when he was stopped once again by Bill’s voice.

 

“Hey what are you doing tomorrow?”

 

“Working,” Babe answered honestly with a shrug.

 

“You think you can pull away from your busy schedule to grab a bite to eat?” Bill asked.

 

“I think it could be arranged, yeah,” he said with a nod, allowing the large smile to bloom on his face, not caring if he looked ridiculous. “We could meet up around eleven.”

 

“Good. There’s this place on sixth street-”

 

“Yeah I know the place.”

 

“Well good because you’re buying,” Bill said before he let out another loud laugh and drove away from Babe.

 

            Babe watched as Bill drove down the street until he turned a corner and disappeared. Smile still on his face, Babe walked up the steps to his house and called out to him ma as he entered the warm house before he retreated to his room.

 

            What had he been worried about? Why did he think that things wouldn’t be just as they had left them so many months ago in a faraway country? Bill was still Bill and Babe was still Babe and they were still each other’s best friends. What did it matter if Bill wasn’t completely flesh and bone and what did it matter if sometimes Babe got overcome by a sudden, painful memory? There wasn’t anything wrong with either of them.

 

            Tomorrow he’d go to the dinner with Bill and they’d shoot the shit just as they’d always done, maybe they’d grab a beer when Babe came home from work, he didn’t know. Whatever they ended up doing, Babe knew they would stick together. They were friends in arms and friends as civilians. Nothing could stop them.

 

            Babe sat down on the edge of his bed and let his body fall back onto the bed. He closed his eyes as he thought of Bill’s loud laugh, his little snide comments that lacked any real venom, the way he treated Babe as a personal punching bag sometimes. Nothing had changed really.

_Just like old times._


End file.
